{"id":329110,"date":"2024-08-28T19:00:01","date_gmt":"2024-08-29T00:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=329110"},"modified":"2024-08-29T10:27:31","modified_gmt":"2024-08-29T15:27:31","slug":"fugitive-philippine-mayor-headed-to-lawless-drug-region-authorities-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/fugitive-philippine-mayor-headed-to-lawless-drug-region-authorities-say\/","title":{"rendered":"Fugitive Philippine Mayor Headed to Lawless Drug Region, Authorities Say"},"content":{"rendered":"

The fugitive former mayor of a small town in the Philippines accused of having links to human trafficking via the online gambling industry is likely headed for the notorious Golden Triangle region, authorities have said.<\/p>\n

\"Alice
Alice Guo, above, addressing a Senate committee hearing earlier this year regarding discrepancies about her identity before she fled the country. (Image: Inquirer.net)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Alice Leal Guo fled the Philippines by speedboat on July 18 after repeatedly failing to turn up to a Senate committee hearing examining her case.<\/p>\n

\n

Guo headed to Bali, and from there, took a flight to Malaysia. She then flew to Singapore. On August 18, she boarded a ferry to Batam, Indonesia, according to the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) in the Philippines.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The agency said this week it believes Guo is taking a circuitous route to the Golden Triangle, a semi-lawless area spanning the intersecting borders of Laos, Thailand, and Myanmar, which is under the influence of triads, drug cartels, and trafficking syndicates.<\/p>\n

Shocking Discovery <\/strong><\/h2>\n

The\u00a0Guo<\/a>\u00a0case became a national sensation after police raided a POGO (Philippine Online Gambling Operator) complex in her town of Bamban in the northern province of Tarlac last February.<\/p>\n

Inside, they found hundreds of trafficked workers, Guo\u2019s car, and documents showing the land on which the POGO complex was built was partially owned by the mayor.<\/p>\n

\n

Investigations into Guo\u2019s background provided a further twist. She claimed to be a natural-born Philippine citizen. But her birth certificate was registered when she was 17 years old, and her fingerprints matched those of a Chinese national named Guo Hua Ping who entered the country as a teenager.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Residents of Bamban say that no one knew Guo before she ran for mayor in 2022, which is also when all of her social media accounts were registered.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, investigators have discovered that large sums of money were deposited in Guo\u2019s bank accounts, which were then transferred to other individuals and business entities in China.<\/p>\n

The mystery surrounding Guo\u2019s identity has led to speculation that she is a Chinese asset, which she has denied.<\/p>\n

Fujian Clan <\/strong><\/h2>\n

The PAOCC claims Guo is connected to the so-called \u201cFujian Clan,\u201d a network of Chinese nationals that\u00a0washed at least US$2.2 billion<\/a> — largely the proceeds of illegal online gambling — through Singapore\u2019s banking system.<\/p>\n

“We are confident that she is trying to get into the Golden Triangle,\u201d said Winston Casio, spokesperson of the PAOCC, who added that the Guo family also has business interests in Cambodia, another hotbed of triad scam centers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are part of a big criminal organization. The Fujian Gang, to which the Guos belong. is part of the Golden Triangle Triad,” he claimed.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Guo\u2019s escape from the Philippines has angered President \u201cBongbong\u201d Marcos. Speaking of those who must have aided her flight, he warned that \u201cheads will roll\u201d over the \u201ccorruption that undermines our justice system and erodes public trust.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The fugitive former mayor of a small town in the Philippines accused of having links to human trafficking via the online gambling industry is likely headed for the notorious Golden Triangle region, authorities have said. Alice Leal Guo fled the Philippines by speedboat on July 18 after repeatedly failing to turn up to a Senate […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":329111,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[69069,21,33810,61,84511],"tags":[91651,91652,92170,92169,91654],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFugitive Philippine Mayor Headed to Lawless Drug Region, Authorities Say<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Bamban mayor Alice Guo is headed for the Golden Triangle in her effort to evade Philippine authorities, per Anti-Organized Crime Commission.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/fugitive-philippine-mayor-headed-to-lawless-drug-region-authorities-say\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fugitive Philippine Mayor Headed to Lawless Drug Region, Authorities Say\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Bamban mayor Alice Guo is headed for the Golden Triangle in her effort to evade Philippine authorities, per Anti-Organized Crime Commission.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/fugitive-philippine-mayor-headed-to-lawless-drug-region-authorities-say\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-08-29T00:00:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-08-29T15:27:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Guo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"675\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/fugitive-philippine-mayor-headed-to-lawless-drug-region-authorities-say\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/fugitive-philippine-mayor-headed-to-lawless-drug-region-authorities-say\/\",\"name\":\"Fugitive Philippine Mayor Headed to Lawless Drug Region, Authorities Say\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/fugitive-philippine-mayor-headed-to-lawless-drug-region-authorities-say\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/fugitive-philippine-mayor-headed-to-lawless-drug-region-authorities-say\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Guo.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-08-29T00:00:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-08-29T15:27:31+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Bamban mayor Alice Guo is headed for the Golden Triangle in her effort to evade Philippine authorities, per Anti-Organized Crime Commission.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/fugitive-philippine-mayor-headed-to-lawless-drug-region-authorities-say\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/fugitive-philippine-mayor-headed-to-lawless-drug-region-authorities-say\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/fugitive-philippine-mayor-headed-to-lawless-drug-region-authorities-say\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Guo.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Guo.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":675,\"caption\":\"Alice Guo, above, addressing a Senate committee hearing earlier this year regarding discrepancies about her identity before she fled the country. 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